Petrol Price at Its Cheapest Level in 2018, Diesel Rates at Four-Month Low

New Delhi: Fuel prices remained unchanged on Wednesday after hitting new lows the previous day. Petrol prices were slashed for the fifth straight day on Tuesday and fell below the Rs 70 per litre mark to Rs 69.79 in New Delhi, the lowest in 2018.

Meanwhile, retail rates of diesel in New Delhi was at Rs 63.83 a litre, a four-month low. In Mumbai, petrol is being sold at Rs 75.41 a litre, 7 paise cheaper than Monday. Diesel price in the country’s financial capital remained unchanged at Rs 66.79.

On Monday, petrol was sold at Rs 70.27 a litre in Delhi, Rs 75.89 in Mumbai, Rs 73.11 in Chennai and Rs 72.36 in Kolkata. In Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, diesel was priced at Rs 64.19, Rs 67.17, Rs 68.10 and Rs 65.95 respectively.

Oil prices slumped almost 7 percent to the lowest level in more than a year on Wednesday, as fears of an economic slowdown rattled the markets. US crude futures and global benchmark Brent hit their lowest levels since 2017 during the session, putting both benchmarks on track for losses of about 40 percent in the fourth quarter.

Petrol and diesel prices depend on international prices of crude and the rupee-US dollar exchange rate since India imports almost 80 percent of its oil requirement.

Prices of petrol and diesel, which are market determined, are changed on a daily basis. As per the country’s dynamic pricing mechanism, the domestic fuel prices depend upon international fuel prices on a 15-day average and the value of the rupee.

Prices of petrol and diesel vary across the country as states and Union Territories levy their own rate of VAT (value-added tax). The government had cut the excise duty on fuel prices in October to tackle increasing prices of petrol and diesel.

The government had cut the excise duty on fuel prices in October in order to tackle increasing prices of petrol and diesel. The estimated loss of revenue to the Central government on account of the cut will be about Rs 7,000 crore in the remaining part of the fiscal.

The crude oil prices have been at an 18-month low in the international markets, owing to the supply-demand mismatch. At the close of trade on Monday, the benchmark Brent crude was trading at USD 50.73 a barrel, its lowest since July 2017.

On July 25, 2017, the Brent crude was trading USD 50.20 a barrel. The crude prices have crashed by 41 percent in past two months after they touched a four year high of USD 86.29 a barrel on October 3 this year.